In this sermon, Pastor Chad teaches that God has called the church not only to serve Him but to become His friends—those who know His heart, walk in obedience, and partner with Him in His plans for the earth. Drawing from John 15:12–17, he explains that friendship with God begins with reverence and obedience, not casual familiarity, reminding believers that though Christ set us free, we are still called to serve Him rather than sin, flesh, fear, law, or the devil. Pastor Chad uses the examples of Moses and Abraham, two people God called friends, to illustrate how true friendship with God comes through intimacy and intentional pursuit: Moses met God “face to face” in the tent of meeting, and Abraham invited God into his tent, showing hospitality and deep honor. Both men demonstrated that when we make space for God, He fills it—revealing His heart, bringing fruitfulness, and allowing us to intercede for others. Pastor Chad urges believers to stop giving God “leftovers,” to repent for neglecting His presence, and to once again make room in their hearts and schedules for genuine friendship with Him—because God still looks for friends who will partner with Him to bring His kingdom to earth.
Pastor Chad’s new sermon series, “Let the Church Rise” from Matthew 16:13–19 emphasizes that the Church is not a man-made institution but the living, Spirit-filled body built by Christ Himself. He declared, “I will build My Church,” meaning it belongs to Him, and even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. The Church is called out from the world to represent God’s kingdom on earth, carrying heaven’s authority and advancing His rule through obedience, prayer, and the proclamation of the gospel. Though spiritual opposition and persecution will come, the Church’s purpose remains to usher in God’s presence, confess Christ boldly, and herald the good news to every nation. Pastor Chad urges believers to rise in faith, unity, and authority so that this generation’s Church becomes a powerful reflection of Jesus’ victory and mission in the world.
Pastor Adam Baird’s sermon from Luke 13:10–13 centers on the idea that while pain is an inevitable part of life, God gives purpose to our pain. He begins with a humorous story about doing a cold plunge to illustrate how people will willingly endure pain when they see a purpose behind it—but struggle deeply when their pain feels meaningless. Using the story of the woman crippled for eighteen years, Pastor Baird draws out four truths: Jesus sees our pain, calls us in our pain, speaks to our pain, and touches our pain to give it purpose. He emphasizes that no one is exempt from suffering, but Christ is drawn to those who are hurting and meets them with compassion and healing. Even when God seems silent or when healing doesn’t come immediately, He is working in the “gap,” shaping faith and trust. The sermon closes by urging believers to bring their pain to Jesus—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—because He alone can transform it into praise, turning what once crippled us into a testimony of His restoring power.Pain We Carry (Adam Baird)
In this sermon, Pastor Terry Harris teaches that stewardship and tithing are not about money but about acknowledging God’s ownership and lordship over every part of our lives—our time, talents, treasure, and testimony. Using scriptures like Luke 6:38 and Matthew 6:19–21, he explains that what happens to the first determines what happens to the rest, emphasizing that giving God the first portion invites His blessing and protection over all we have. Drawing from biblical examples such as Abraham’s obedience, the firstfruits offerings, Jericho, and Jesus as God’s firstborn sacrifice, Pastor Harris shows that tithing is both a test of faith and an act of worship that redeems the rest of our resources. He likens God’s blessing to an umbrella that doesn’t remove life’s storms but covers and sustains us through them, calling believers to live under that divine covering by faithfully honoring God first.
Pastor Chad, preaching from 2 Corinthians 5, emphasizes the reality of the judgment seat of Christ, where every believer will give an account—not for salvation, which is secured by grace through faith, but for rewards or loss of rewards based on how they lived. He explains that God will evaluate obedience, motives, stewardship of time and resources, and how we treated others, reminding the church that eternity is shaped not only by where we spend it but also how we experience it. Using Lot as an example of a man who was saved yet suffered great loss through compromise, Pastor Chad warns against “living on the edge” and stresses that our choices ripple across generations. He urges believers to live with eternity in mind, building on Christ with works that endure, so that when they stand before Him, their lives reflect faithfulness, surrender, and fruit that lasts into eternity.
Revelation 20:10-15 ESV 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 21:1-5 ESV 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Colossians 3:1-2 ESV If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
John 5:1-9 NIV 1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,
Ezekiel 47:1-9 NIV 1 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side. 3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 ESV Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
Revelation 4:1-2 ESV After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.
Revelation 4:8-11 ESV And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Acts 10:38 NIV God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him.
Ephesians 6:12 ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
2 Timothy 2:20-21 ESV 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
1 Timothy 3:15 NASB but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
Proverbs 18:21 NKJV Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Ephesians 4:25-32 ESV 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Luke 9:23-24 NLT Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
Proverbs 4:20-23 NIV My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 ESV 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God…
1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 ESV 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Genesis 2:5-9 ESV 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Acts 2:14-21 ESV 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Romans 8:12-17 ESV 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
